Telecommunications and Education. Hearing before the Subcommittee on Communications of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. United States Senate, One Hundred Second Congress, Second Session (July 29, 1992).

Congress of the U.S., Washington, DC. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Testimony on the use of telecommunications technologies in education was given at this hearing. The focus was to examine how new and old technologies can be used to help schools and universities serve children more effectively and to extend the reach of educational institutions to rural and underserved communities. Although there is a great deal of technology in the marketplace, there is no coordinated effort at the national level to ascertain how it can be used most effectively considering limited financial resources. Statements by Senators Burns, Hollings, Inouye, McCain, Pressler, Stevens, and Jeff Bingaman were followed by an address by Diane Ravitch, Assistant Secretary of Education from the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, who reviewed uses of telecommunications technology in education and introduced the proposed SMARTLINE computer interactive information service that can be a beginning of a comprehensive distance learning system. Additional testimony about the use of educational telecommunications technology was provided by the following persons: (1) Kay Abernathy, Beaumont Independent School Boards Association, Texas; (2) Celia Ayala, Los Angeles, California County Office of Education; (3) Jack Clifford, Colony Communications, Inc.; (4) John Kuglin, Cold Springs Elementary School, Missoula, Montana; (5) Harry R. Miller, United States Distance Learning Association; (6) David Morgan, San Marcos Telephone Company; (7) Mabel P. Phifer, Black College Satellite Network (BCSN) and the Central Educational Telecommunications Network (CETN), Washington, D.C.; (8) Linda G. Roberts, Office of Technology Assessment; (9) Clyde Sakamoto, Maui Community College, Kahului, Hawaii; (10) Ron Schoenherr, South Carolina Educational Television Commission; (11) Carter Ward, Missouri School Boards Association; (12) Shelly Weinstein, National Education Telecommunications Organization/Educational Satellite Corporation; and (13) Pat Wright, TCI Educational Services, Englewood, Colorado. An appendix contains prepared statements and additional commentary by other interested parties. (SLD)